Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1887-08-05
BEECHER'S JEWELS.
AIS WONDERFUL AND VARIED col
LECTION or PRECIOUS STONES,


7. ,,os IN learn something in relation to Mr.
pa,,.hsr,s Elections that | spent an evening
vii, Mai W. c. Beeeher at his house On
Columbia Heights Maj Bcecher Is the son
,rto ,ybose hands the whole matter OF dispoS-
ino Of his fathers effects has been placed
aI spnnose " sail the major, taking as he
smoke key ring ON which hung I'VE or SIX
finer RINGS from his pocket, "you would ike
to hear first about fathers gems Here are
number of them set In rings, which he used 10
cor,v in this way in his pocket You Will
notice that they, or most af them, are some
what marked and scratched from constant
rubbing and Maj. Beecher handed them 10
me. M,
"You will see,' he continued, "tAat among
tbem there is q yellow diamond, an opal, a |
hyacinth, sapphires and a number OF ind'aii
oo,pets and topazes. Tho diamond, OF
course. is the most valuable OF the lot, as IL Is
a remarkably large and fine specimen. Father
cared nothing for white diamonds Color
was everything to him. Color and music had
the same effect upon his nerves that opiates
would have upon those OF other men ms
particular diamond was brought to him by
New York jeweler from Paris, and he was
very fond of it. Hyacinths were among his
fayorite eer1s. AMI that one which you have
in your hand was probably the most valuable
one he owned. Its color, rich cherry red,
is rare. OF the Others the sapphircs and
topazes, and especially that large oval topaz,
which. as YOU see, is nearly the color Of Il n.y.
cinth, appealed most strongly to his sense OF
color. Perhaps he had more Indian garnets
than any other stone. One in particular,
in bol,I
looked SO much like ruby that he often de
ceiyed jewelers. Among his unset gems he
had number Of very beautiful opals and
amethysts and q quantity OF small topazes,
tourmalines and garnets, many of them being
| of little or no market value.
"The intrinsic value of stone was nothing
to him, but its form and beauty of color
everything. lie had no liking for stones that
had been cut for intaglios and canoes; such
were ruined in his eyes. Another stone whose
color pleased him intensely was the peridot
They are of n soft green shade. He had four
| Of these. The gems l have mentioned are
about all that we have found among his
effects, but they do not begin to give an idea
of the number he has had in his possession.
He was in the habit of giving away to his
friends any stone which they happened to ex-
press a strong admiration for. Wherever h.
went he was well known to the jewellers, and
they permitted him to take whatever suited
his fancy. Those he wanted he kept and the
others he returned. The jewelers. were will
ing. that he should do this not only on ac
count of their friendship for him, but be-
cause in that way they were able to dispose of
great many jewels which were purchased
by his friends. He was as well known in the
jewelry stores OF San Francisco and Boston
as in those of New York. and whenever a
jeweler anywhere in the country came into
the possession Of a stone which was notable
for its color and form he was pretty apt to
send it to father. He was an excellent Judge
of the gems that he was fond of, and was
often commissioned by friends to- select for
themn
"Is it true that he used to carry quantities
of gems loose in his vest pocketl"
"Not exactly, though l have known him to
have three or four packages of stones about
his person at time. He was more apt tc
keep them in the compartments of his pocket.
book. l don't think, outside of the hyacinth
diamond and OPAL which he always carried
that lie ever at any one time had mere thar
81 COO or $1,000 worth OF gems in his posses
sion. He was apparently very careless Of
them, but don't know that lie ever lost any
Often while walking on the street with Q
friend he would open package of gems ant
spread them out in the palm of his hand
II remember five or six years ago that {
jeweler in Harlem sent him two opals. On,
was cut gem. which the jeweler called III,
"Setting Sum-" and was valued at $500. Tn,
other was rough in the matrix, and wa
nearly as large as mans hand. He KEEP
them for several months, and then one da,
handed them, wrapped up in a piece O
paper, to me. Here, Will, he said, Il shan
keep these; you take them back | didn,
like Che idea at all of travelling around wit
$1,000 worth of gems in my pocket, and
was mighty glad when l reached Harlem i
safety, can tell you. Father did not wea
jewels often. He had piece Of aqua marine
which, by the way, has disappeared, whic
he sometimes used to wear in the pulpit q
Plymouth church, and q splendid opal whic
he would wear at times when out of the city
But he was averse to making display of Iii
jewels.n
II have always understood, Mr. Beecher
that your father had very fine and complete
library"
"He had There are about 10000 volume
IN 1t, and for scope and completeness it is.
think, among the finest of the worlds private
libraries. Father did not care for book,
simply because they were rare. His was \
working library, and in it were books that
touched upon almost every topic within The
range of thought. Every book that he could
lay his hands upon which threw any new light
upon subject he bought His theologica
library Is naturally the most complete Mex
to this, his philosophical library is the mos,
extensive. he had the works of all the Enc.
iisii scientists and an especially complete col
lection OF all books on evolution, not only
those OF Darwin, but also those on the othei
sue. spencer and lyndall were among his
favorite authors, and he had tLeir works ON.
tire In the library are 100 folio volumes of
engravmgs, which include copies of ali the
celebrated paintings of Dresden. Iouvre and
other continental galleries Then he had n
set OF magnificent Shakespearean illustra.
lions, some 200 in number
although, as have said, father did not
care especially FOR merely rare books. still he
had many which are extremely rare and val
uable Among the most notable of In, &, o,o
ooulus Humming Birds consi stinr of five
large beautifully illustrated volumes contain.
ing description of all species of bum,Iino
; oirus known up to that time, and also color,
illustrations OF almost all Of the orchids This
SET was one of four that was subscribed CO..
IN this country. and father WINS tbn onir
private citizen VINO subscribed here. The
o.ners were taken by the Smithsonian insti.
luton, Yale college, ard another institution
the name OF which | cannot recolect Reside
MIS- MN SET he has Audubon's Birds of America !,
MOTIFS MOTIFS British Birds, and Cuyicr'.
y Mh,ural History library OF fifty to seventy.
ferns md Iowe, many others en- trees, pants,
tair, nnd his collection of the Britia5 o mus
plete. Pe'N ieaily eoni-
III, ms miscellaneous library included books
upon almost every conceivable tomb 0ns
row row OF books which he was very prouj of